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Explore the Oberlin Heritage Center

Enjoy the lifestyles and architecture of historic Oberlin in a guided tour of three beautifully preserved buildings that tell the unique, nationally significant story of the community and college in Oberlin from their beginning in 1833 until the 1930s. Learn about abolition and the Underground Railroad, aluminum history, women's history, decorative arts, temperance, student life, and more. The Oberlin Heritage Center is a facility of the National Park Service Underground Railroad Network to Freedom and has been accredited by the American Association of Museums.

The tour includes:

• The Monroe House (1866), a brick Italianate-style house, was originally the home of Civil War General Giles W. Shurtleff, the leader of the first African-American regiment from Ohio to serve in the Civil War. The house was subsequently the long-time home of James Monroe and his wife, Julia Finney Monroe. He was an important abolitionist, advocate of voting rights for African Americans, and friend of Frederick Douglass. Monroe taught at Oberlin College, served as the U.S. Consul to Brazil, and was a five-term US congressman. Mrs. Monroe was the daughter of Charles Finney, the great religious leader of Oberlin College.

• The Little Red Schoolhouse (1836) was the first public school in town. Notably, in defiance of Ohio's "Black Laws", the school was interracial from its inception. Sarah Margru Kinson, who as a young girl was onboard the infamous Amistad slave-trading ship, returned later to America and became one of the first African Americans to attend the school. Restored as a pioneer-era one-room school, it is a special favorite of school-age visitors.

• The Jewett House(1884) was the home of Oberlin College chemistry professor Frank Fanning Jewett, and his wife Frances Gulick Jewett, author of books on public health and hygiene. The Jewetts and the subsequent owners, the Hubbards, rented rooms to male Oberlin College students, who slept in the attic and studied on the second floor. This wonderfully intact house and its simple wood frame barn are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On display in the house is an exhibit on "Aluminum: The Oberlin Connection" that includes a recreation of Charles Martin Hall's 1886 wood shed experiment.

More information about our specialty tours, including group tours and self-guided tours, can be found here.

To plan your Oberlin trip, check out our "Virtual Visitors' Center," which will aid you in finding area accommodations, restaurants, and other attractions to make your visit to Oberlin enjoyable.

Visitor Comments

Here are some comments from visitors who have toured the Oberlin Heritage Center:

• "The students absolutely loved the tour! They thought it was way too short. They wanted to spend the whole day with you." --teacher of a middle-school group from Cleveland.
• "[We enjoyed] the interaction of kids with history. . .Guides were very informative" --a church-school group from Lorain.
• [We most enjoyed] the great mix of local and national history, the ability to tell the story in a reasonable time frame, the ease of walking within [the Oberlin Heritage Center]." --a bus tour from Virginia
• "Wow--what a great deal of history!. . .The people of Oberlin were advanced in their ways of thinking. The feelings in the Monroe House were that you were experiencing history and the original owners were glad."
• "I really enjoyed the tour and thought the information was very interesting."
• "Best tour. Good information. Lots of pictures and artifacts."
• "I loved Oberlin. I loved the small college town feeling, and the total dedication and passion that this town has for its abolitionist past, and for preserving the past. In the hours we spent in Oberlin, and in the people we met and learned from. In the end, it's all about educating and transcending ignorance."